CHENNAI: The Mahila Court in Chengalpattu on Wednesday sentenced a clergyman to 15 years of imprisonment on charges of abduction and raping a minor girl.
According to the prosecution, David Inbaraj (35), serving as a priest in a church at West Tambaram, visited the minor’s house frequently under the pretext of conducting prayers and developed a relationship with her. Later, on April 16, 2013 Inbaraj, who was already married, eloped with the girl.
It was alleged that the pastor took the girl to Megalaya and Nagaland, and later brought her to Bengaluru. Eight months after they eloped, police traced them to the city on December 13, 2013 and brought them back to Tambaram.
Based on the complaint of her father, a special sub inspector of police, Tambaram police registered a case against the pastor on charges of abducting and rapping the minor girl.
On Wednesday, after the final hearing, judge S Ananthi sentenced the clergy to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment with a penalty of `10,000 for rape and five years of imprisonment for abduction.